Refoaming & Reupholstering

After I wrote yesterday’s post, I just hung my head in shame. How did my life become so out of control that I felt the need to spew my negativity all over the interwebs? Maybe I’m a little toooooo transparent. It was a selfish move… but you guys were so sweet and encouraging. THANK YOU.

Since I have a quiet moment (and because writing is therapeutic for me), I’m going to show you a little update we recently did in our dining room. Remember this lovely antique dining set that my Granny passed down to me?

I know what you’re thinking… how could you be down in the dumps when you have a shockingly bright yellow dining table in the middle of your house? And with such cheerful and eclectic vintage fabrics?

Well let’s just say the dining table… nay, the WHOLE DINING ROOM has been on my radar lately. And for our family, the most pressing matter is how uncomfortable these chairs are to sit in. I mean, my trunks been out junkin’ lately, and it STILL feels like I’m sitting directly on a slab of wood. I wanted to reupholster them with the same poppy fabric we had last time, and add that clear plastic vinyl to protect from the toddler food-fights.

The issue of replacing the foam was intimidating me a little. There are so many different densities of foam that I never know what appropriate for my specific project. And foam is expensive enough that I knew I wanted to get it right. And even though I already have the fabric that I’m going to use, I realized Online Fabric Store sells more than just fabric… they have a whole selection of foam. WHA???? I know! And they were awesome enough to discuss our needs and send us just the right amount of High Density Upholstery Foam we needed for our 6 dining room chairs!

We removed all the seat cushions and took out all the tiny rusty nails holding the fabric on.

What happened next cracked me up so hard. That, my friends, is the amount of foam our rears have been sitting on daily.

Then, upon further inspection, we realized that this layer of foam was two very thin pieces of batting that had a very thin layer of dead grass from the early 1900’s.

Can you imagine the shock of luxury that will strike our behinds when we sit on actual foam again? #firstworldproblems

We laid out our roll of foam, set the wooden seats on the foam, and traced so we would know where to cut. (we use an electric meat-carving knife… and it cuts like butta!)

Then, with our upholstery staple gun, we just started stapling the edge of the foam down to be flush with the edge of the board. It give the perfect rounded edge of foam. We don’t know if this is the ‘proper’ way to do this… but we’ve tried several different methods in our day, and this one works best for us!

Those slight little ripples in the foam will be completely smooth when we’re done… in case you’re in a panic.

Because the fabric that we have for the chairs is a very lightweight linen, we decided to upholster first with a basic muslin to add strength. (the clear vinyl that we’ll finish off with will be the ultimate protection)… we staple the front, then put a center staple on the opposite side and go out from there. Then we staple down the other two sides. Our staples are typically about a half inch apart.

Then we repeated using our beloved orange poppy fabric… BINGO!

I know I know, it’s not for everyone. But I know one thing for sure… it’s for ME!

Are you able to squint your eyes hard enough to ignore the yellowness of the chairs next to the vibrant orange Poppies? Please say yes. Because this explosion-of-yellow-sunshine’s days are numbered. I have some ideas swimming around in my head, but I’m not ready to pull the trigger quite yet. I’m limiting myself to 17 projects at a time. That’s alllllmost not a joke.

In these pics, I haven’t added the clear plastic to the chairs yet. They’re really hard to photograph with the shiny reflective vinyl, so those’ll be going on asap.

There you have it! A small update that will have a huge impact on our bum-bums. I’m pretty excited for lunch today… which is our big sit-down meal since Nick works 2nd shift. And it doesn’t hurt that lunch has already been in the crockpot for hours, so my work here is done!

Signing out now, to go snuggle with my little sickie.

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About Bethany Sy

Bethany Sy is the creative free-spirit behind DIY/Lifestyle blog, Reality Daydream. She and her husband have been making their 117-year-old homestead their own, and love sharing tips and tutorials along the way. When they found themselves in the trenches of infertility, they started a journey that would prove to be their most important DIY project ever, and have 3 beautiful girls to show for it.

Oh pleeeeeeease Alisa. 🙂 A billion? That would be super overwhelming. I loooove this fabric too! It was a tapestry from Urban Outfitters and has long been discontinued unfortunately. I actually found it on craigslist… and the person selling it happened to be one of my readers. SMALL WORLD!Btw… I’ve been loving your blog lately. Those s’mores bars? HELLO.

First of allI LOVE YOUR BLOG!A friend of mine follows you and introduced me…let me tell you, i dream about living your life!!! Land, crafting, remodeling your home piece by piece, a mist your REAL, life sharing, joy!Second!I have some chairs that I wanna upholstered. They didn’t come upholstered just straight wood, is there a way to add cushion and fabric to them??Third!I can’t wait to use some of these tutorials to re-do some of my own stuff!

Awww you’re super sweet Caroline! About your chairs, I’ve never foamed/upholstered chairs that didn’t have a seat that comes off. In theory it would work though… might just be more difficult because the chair will still be attached. 🙂 Unless there actually is a way to take the seat off? Let me know what you decide! And how they turn out if you go for it!

Sorry about that Kaylyn! We’re in Central Time, and I probably should have mentioned that in the giveaway post. The Rafflecopter form automatically ends and midnight in our time-zone. But I gave you the benefit of the doubt and went in and manually added you… so you’re in the running! I’ll be randomly choosing a winner and posting the results in this morning’s post! 🙂

Hello! So I want to enter in for the fabric.com giveaway it says it ends on 4/4 but it’s 4/3 and it won’t let me enter! I love this store and shopped there many of times! And I also love your blog and have been a secet reader for a long time! 🙂

I love the orange poppies! Orange is my favorite color, it makes me happy just looking at it! Love your blog. Started following because of your DIY, but have to admit love seeing your beautiful twins growing.

Are you sure that’s not horsehair in there? It was commonly used in upholstering furniture back in the day. Also, did you know you can treat your fabric to make it water/stain proof? I had it professionally done on a couch set when my kids were small and it lasted forever.I love what you’ve done and the fabric selection. And happy

I never thought of stapling the foam down first. Great Idea! A little jealous your foam cut like butta…I guess I should have purchased a more expensive knife or I just need to sharpen it 😉 And don’t apologize for your post yesterday. I can completely relate and I think that is why I enjoy your blog so much. Hope your girls are feeling better today!

My husband and I came across a set exactly like this (minus the yellow paint) at a Goodwill this week. After pondering (and the hubbs getting on his hands and knees to inspect it), we decided to pass on it. The center was bowed and he just wasn’t sure how to approach that issue. I’m kicking myself for letting him talk me out of it.

Oh man!!! This is perfect. I inherited some vintage chairs from my grandma, too! While the embroidered floral design is unique and eye-catching, my booty is all kinds of “nope!” after sitting in them! This is exactly what I needed to get me going! Projects are so intimidating to me but you make it seem a little less scary! 🙂

LOVE the chairs! And the idea of clear vinyl. My own re-upholstered and unprotected dining chairs started to lose their pristine look after living a few months with a five-year-old, so the idea of clear protection sounds great.

A dumb question: where do you buy the vinyl for this task?Michael’s? Fabric stores? Some obscure website?

I had to go back and read yesterdays post. So sorry about your little one being sick..I understand..we had a stomach bug come through they got us all..then this alst week my two littles got the flu..not to mention in the middle of this all I was trying to spring clean and a huge dust storm came through and every inch of the house was covered in dust , not just a light layer of dust..and I have to restart…and did I mention that in about a week we will be leaving on a family reunion trip, that needs to be packed for and homeschooling in the process with a 2 and 6 year old… so it’s ok if you ever want to blow off steam or cry..I think you may find a couple of us on here that will cry with you too.

1. Good job on the foam makeover. Love the fabric.2. I just read yesterday’s post… and for different reasons, I FEEL YA. Totally.3. Online Fabric Store peeps were so completely cool at Haven last year. I’m sad I haven’t had a reason to order anything from them yet.4. I really want to win this $100 gift card.5. That was more than a couple.

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Attention: Almost any do-it-yourself project involves risk of some sort. Your tools, materials, and skills will vary, as will the conditions at your project site. Reality Daydream has made every effort to be complete and accurate in the instructions of the plans on this website. Reality Daydream will not assume any responsibility or liability for damages or losses sustained or incurred in the course of your project or in the use of the item you create. Always follow the manufacturer's operating instructions in the use of tools, check and follow your local building codes, and observe all commonly accepted safety precautions.